Jet Airways stake sale Etihad pulls back from the bidding process lenders get only 3 EoIs

Jet Airways aircraft are seen parked at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport in Mumbai, April 18, 2019. "This decision is unrelated to and does not affect Etihad's continued commitment to India, the airline's largest single market, and one which it has served for 15 years", it said.

In a statement, Agarwal said, "The EOI for Jet Airways by Volcan was exploratory in nature".

Volcan Investments, the family trust of Vedanta chairman Anil Agarwal, has shown interest to invest in the now grounded Jet Airways and has submitted an Expression of Interest (EoI) for the debt-ridden airline.

Creditors' hopes of resurrecting India's Jet Airways and salvaging some value from the bankrupt airline were dealt a fresh blow on Monday as two potential investors said they were no longer interested in putting money into the business.

Three foreign entities have submitted bids for reviving grounded Jet Airways till Saturday - the deadline set by the resolution professional (RP) to do so.

The spokesperson added, "Etihad presented a conditional expression of interest to reinvest in Jet as a minority stakeholder, with an agreed partner, but unfortunately this did not materialise". The company also sought an exemption from an open offer that may be triggered by a change in ownership following its investment.

"Etihad remained engaged in the process, but despite the endeavours of everyone involved, there remained very significant issues relating to Jet's previous liabilities", the statement noted. "Regrettably, in these circumstances, it was neither feasible for nor responsible of Etihad to reinvest in Jet at this time".

Jet Airways has liabilities over Rs 26,000 crore.

Etihad acquired a 24 per cent stake in Jet in 2013, at a time when the carrier had needed significant financial support.

The resolution professional said in a statement to the exchanges that the provisional list of prospective resolution applicants would be issued on Tuesday (13).

The lead banker to the airline State Bank of India has approved Rs 10 crore interim funding and other banks are also in the process of approving the same, bankers had said.